An Empress in her Prime
by I AM Homestuck
Summary: A little sea dweller asks Feferi for one thing: revenge. Feferi will willfully carry out her wish, but will she go a little too far? Lost friends, death, and hurt feelings are nothing when you're trying to run an empire, and an empire she WILL run. But just how far will she go to achieve this?
1. Who Are You?

"So let me get this straight again...You're me?"

"Yes."

"And this is a _dream bubble_?"

"Yes, meaning I exist. From an alternate timeline, remember?"

"Of course! Wow, this is _reely_ exciting!"

"Not quite." Older Feferi sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, wishing that her younger self could immediately comprehend the seriousness of their encounter.

"So what's the important news?" Younger Feferi crossed her legs and looked up to older Feferi, truly -EXCITED, and interested in whatever her older counterpart was about to say.

"Remember how I explained SGRUB?"

"Yeah!"

"Whale, this game was of course intended to be fun. Why else would Sollux have shown us to it? And you know what, it was pretty fun..." She paused a moment, remembering at little details and adventures, "But not reely for us."

"Oh? Why?" Younger Feferi shifted anxiously, kind of scared of what she was going to say next. One of her best friends programmed the game; how could it be...not fun?

"Follow me." Older Feferi offered her hand to Younger Feferi, who was sitting criss-cross-applesauce on the ground. With this apathetic gesture the younger one gained apprehension. Initially she was excited to meet future her, but now she started to understand that her older self wasn't as excited to meet her. The little naive sea dweller had to wonder what may cause such dullness. Did someone pass? Did the world end?

Once they were both upright the older of the two walked forth at a brisk pace, not looking back, but expecting herself to catch up. Such actions only added to the other's confusion and nervousness. This other Feferi seemed almost _cold _in a sense. As if she had at some point grown numb to so many things, like affection and caring. How could she possibly end up like this?

Older Feferi was only focused on the memory she was headed for. She shook her head, ashamed and surprised, at the thought of actually showing herself the future and therefore creating another doomed timeline. Yet, she couldn't help it. The beautiful thought of revenge had been placed into her brain, and refused to leave ever since. She knew she was terminating a kind soul and an innocent timeline, but there were endless timelines, and in a sense she was technically just hurting herself. She had selfishly justified herself to continue in dooming her young friend.

Meenah, once she actually spoke to Feferi without killing her, had been the trigger. She had given her the idea, and it had plagued her ever since. She did deserve some more respect-she was the highest on the caste system. Not only that, but she had the ability to end it all, but chose not to. Does that not deserve respect?

Younger Feferi glanced about where they were headed, almost falling behind. It was kind of threatening. The entire place was constructed of metal, and it was cold. It reeked horribly of teenage hormones, and it was making her pretty uncomfortable. What will they be doing in a cold, hard place like this?

Older Feferi had to grab the back of her younger companion's shirt to stop her from going too far.

"Right here. Just watch."

Feferi halted and looked forward. Before her was a large room with a bunch of computers. There were several miscellaneous items scattered about the room, many of which she didn't recognize. She did however recognize some of her friends in the room. Karkat was standing around, looking all grumpy, as usual. Kanaya was getting ready to use a weird metal contraption in the middle of the room with a grey ball with orangey spikes. A little further away from the metal contraption she saw herself and Sollux, sitting on a...pile of horns? Suddenly a white burst appeared from the metal thing, clearing to reveal her moirail, Eridan. She couldn't help but lightly giggle at how silly and impossible this whole scenario was.

Eridan walked over to strike a conversation with her and Sollux. Younger Feferi couldn't pick up much of what they were saying, just bits and pieces, like something about _"Jack Noir"_ and duels, and something about Eridan caring for her. Either way, it built up to a fight between Sollux and Eridan. This was pretty worrying, all Feferi's present had basically the same reaction- _don't fight._

It ended in Sollux being thrust against the wall and getting knocked out, causing retaliation in that timeline's Feferi. She prepared to strike Eridan, but he struck first, with a white magic hole being shot straight through her chest. Before Younger Feferi could react, Kanaya retaliated against Eridan, but to no avail; he shot a hole straight through her abdomen. He destroyed the orb-like grey spiky thing then left. Karkat stood agape.

At this time, Younger Feferi's reaction was reminiscent of Karkat's; standing stunned with her mouth wide open. Her apprehension and anxiety had now completely diminished, leaving only empty and sad emotions, like betrayal and fear. Her stomach flopped and she felt magenta tears gather in her eyes. Why would Eridan do this? Choking back a sob, she wiped her eyes, and looked up to Older Feferi for an explanation or maybe some support.

She unfortunately found neither. Older Feferi's expression had changed too. Her earlier, emotionless, look was completely gone, and now _cold_ didn't even begin to describe her. In her eyes Younger Feferi saw something she had never felt before. A funny feeling prickled up her spine, and she again felt like crying. Her older self didn't even appear angry, that would have been better, but instead, inside her vacant white eyes, there was rage.

Not a normal, maroon rage, but rather a red hot fiery rage. Clearly a fire had been set at some time, and this memory only fueled it.

Older Feferi harshly took Younger Feferi by the arm and led her away from the memory, and into a bigger room.

"Do you want this?" Older Feferi asked, gripping Younger Feferi by the shoulders, hardly acknowledging her tears.

She weakly shook her head.

"Then listen whale and and do exactly what I say..."


	2. So It Begins

**Author's Note: So, how do you like it so far? A lot? Good. Anyway, I decided to put the Author's Note in the second chapter because I figured the information in here would only really strike interest in those who have stuck along through the first and second chapters. That being said, my plan is to update every weekend. I have a pretty busy schedule and sometimes weekends might not even work out, but in that case I will warn a weekend in advance.**

**And with this, enjoy! :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything in this story, previous chapter and this one. It all belongs to Andrew Hussie.**

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_Ding!_

_Ding!_

_Ding!_

_Din-_

"Ugh..." The young mergirl turned in her bed uncomfortably.

_Ding!_

She sighed, slowly lifting her heavy lids. Somehow, her dream had actually made her more tired than when she fell asleep. Wait...when did she fall asleep? She sat up, trying to recall when she laid down. She scanned her room, as if it might provide her with an answer. Although the room had no explanations to offer, outside her window she saw a dead lusus. That meant Eridan was hunting for Gl'bgolyb as-

_Ding!_

She decided to tend to whoever was messaging her, so she may get a complete thought out.

CA: fef  
CA: hey  
CA: fef  
CA: glub  
CA: i knoww youre there  
CA: fef

For a moment she felt completely fine with his messages. His shellfish tendencies, his horrible quadranting, her plan to break up with him...

But now she remembered her dream, and what she saw. She was almost brought to tears just by hearing from him, but her ducts were dry when she remembered the pain she saw in older her's eyes. She recalled the plan, and knew what she had to do.

CA: are you really doin this right noww  
CC: ) (ey, -Eridan! W) (at's on your mind?  
CA: wwhat  
CC: We're moirails! Let's s) (are our feelings! W) (at's on your mind?  
CA: hm  
CC: Please? 38)

It was kind of hard for her to speak to him. She knew she had to imitate what she was supposed to say according to her timeline, but she didn't know exactly what she was supposed to say. "Act like normal" was a hard command to follow when suddenly her heart despised the one she was talking to. Now that she knew what Eridan was capable of, there was no way she could look at him in the same way and say what she was supposed to say. She knew she must have been screwing something up, but what? There was no way she could know, because she would never live in the timeline where she said what she was supposed to say.

CA: fef i swwear theres nothin on my mind  
CC: I don't think so, -Eridan!  
CC: Just skip the melodramatic facade and tell me w) (at's on your mind! PL-EASE!  
CA: cant i just talk to you like a normal seadwweller  
CC: You AR-E, silly!  
CA: ...  
CC: -ERIDAN PL-EAS-E YOU AR-E HOLDING M-E IN SUSP-ENSE! 38(  
CA: yeah wwell ok since wwe are the PALEST OF PALS A GUY COULD EVVER ASK FOR  
CA: i wwill tell you  
CA: evven though you wwill only humor me as usual since you dont agree wwith my agenda  
CA: any of my agendas really  
CA: none of the agendas  
CA: none of them  
CC: Are you fretting over anot) (er one of t) (ese dumb contraptions?  
CA: see  
CA: more condescension  
CA: you are goin to make a hell of an empress  
CC: S) (ut up and tell me w) (at's wrong! 38(  
CC: I understand you want to kill all landwellers, but it's not going to work! It never works!  
CA: i just gotta keep tryin. thats how all great millitary masterminds succeed.  
CC: -Eridan, no. S) (ut up. W) (at's wrong again?  
CA: but yeah i dunno  
CA: i dont knoww wwhy she ignores me i guess shes just bored wwith me

And here it comes. His stupid romantic antics. She didn't really want to deal with him right now. Not like this. She might as well get to what her older self was goading her to do.

CC: I doubt it. Anyway, I have a question. It's been on my mind for a while. 38)  
CA: wwhat the fuck fef i thought wwe wwere just talkin about me  
CC: I KNOW BUT JUST LIST-EN.  
CA: sheesh okay what is it  
CC: Speaking about your quadrants...  
CC: I was wondering...  
CC: DO YOU WANT TO BE R-ED? 38D  
CA: ...  
CA: fef  
CA: of course  
CC: GR-EAT! I'll be RIGHT BACK! This is so -EXCITING! 38D  
CA: wwait fef

cuttlefishCuller [CC] ceased trolling caligulasAquarium [CA]

The young sea maiden immediately shut down her tablet. She did NOT like Eridan, but it was just the first step in the plan. From her bed she rose, looking out the window, staring at the dead lusus and beyond. Beyond the lusus was her kingdom.

In this moment, observing her rightful land, a little cog turned in her heart. This cog hardly inched the gears to get her going, but it was enough for her to work up something she didn't recognize. But somehow, she agreed with it, and allowed it continue its work.


	3. Feferi: Wake Up

**Author's Note: Short chapter, I know. In fact, this is probably the shittiest chapter I've written so far. But, I had absolutely no time this week to proofread, and even as I write this I need to be taking care of some homework. Sorry. For future notice, I'm doing a production of High School Musical at my school and next week is tech week(the week before the show, also known as "Hell Week"), meaning I will have rehearsal from 4 to 9, and I will be using the time in between the end of school and beginning of rehearsal to do more. fucking. homework. So, in all, I'm really, really sorry guys, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to post a chapter next weekend. But please, stick around, because next chapter is my favorite.**

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_"Fef..."_

_The purple waves captured her, seeping into her very soul. She tried to scream, but her throat was already clogged with the dark muck, and it soon found it's way to her lungs, suffocating her. Her gills became useless as they seemed to dissolve into the thick liquid. She watched in horror as some other fluid found its way into the mess, its color being magenta._

"Fef..."

She was drowning. As a seadweller this was the worst, most unthinkable pain. She could always breath, land or sea, but now she had completely lost the ability to do so on either. It was terrifying to think that she could no longer live anywhere because of this new found pain.

"Fef!"

And this was it. She was dying. She would die young, no friends with her, all alone.

"FEF, WAKE UP!"

Feferi jumped awake, breaking from a chilling sweat and taking a deep breath. She coughed harshly, her throat in pain. Shuttering, she looked around frantically to see what caused her pain.

"Fef, what the fuck?"

Her head jolted towards Eridan, who was standing beside her bed. Her eyes began to cloud with tears, just thinking about her experience. It felt like she couldn't escape, that she would be trapped forever under the cursed purple spell, unable to escape. Without thinking, she launched forward, hugging Eridan. She began to lightly sob on his shoulder.

"Uh..." A violet blush crossed his face, unable to comprehend the reason for Feferi's sudden dependence. Adding to the thoughtless romance, he hugged her back, hoping it would make her eyes cease leaking.

After couple moments of their embrace, Feferi realized what she was doing. She was hugging _Eridan,_ the one who was destined to kill her! A shellfish no good jerk! About to pull away from him, she remembered what she had done. They were _red_ now. She couldn't pull away! If they were still moirails Eridan would get over it, but now he was her _matesprit_ and and releasing their hug would just lead to melodramatic ridiculousness. She kept up the charade, but there was no hiding her stiffness. Eridan noticed her awkwardness.

"Fef-"

"Eridan, thank you for waking me up! But, um, why are you here?"

"Well, fef, you haven't answered a single message for a full _week_. We've been trying to play Sgrub, but I guess that didn't fit into your fucking schedule. Have you been asleep this whole time?"

Feferi looked back on it. She remembered becoming Eridan's matesprit, then carrying out her duties for the rest of the day. After that she...went to sleep?

"Luckily I refused to be anyone else's sever player. Everyone else has already started and two of them already hit god tier. By the way, you're lusus isn't dead. In fact, it's the only one that's alive. Everyone else's lusii died, including mine."

Feferi nodded, recognizing some of the terms Eridan used from her future self's talk. "Who's hit God Tier?"

"Uh, Vris and Ara. Vris made a huge deal about it, while Ara said it was necessary, even though we are a doomed timeline. Kar wasn't taking that for an answer, though. He's still trying to win the game, but we're destined not to...Wait, Fef, how do you know what I'm talking about? You weren't awake to find out."

"Uh..." How would she have known? She couldn't just tell Eridan that her dead self from a different timeline told her, that would just be ridiculous. "Sollux told me about the game before we started."

"Ugh, Fef, why were you talking to that mustard garbage? Don't you know you got something better running through your veins?"

The magenta blood rolled her eyes, "For the last time Eridan, _we are not better than anyone else!"_

"You know Fef, that would be true if there were no such thing as lowbloods and landwellers, but our great empire hierarchy needs an impoverished and working class. So they need to exist so we don't have to do shit like patrolling the streets and controlling pollution or whatever they do up there. Anyway, I sure hope you're not hinting at communism."

"Eridan, shut up! You spend less than half of your time in sea! You love landwellers!"

The male troll pulled away from their hug, grabbing his matesprit's shoulders and looking her in the eyes. "Don't say that. It's unfortunate that you feel that way about me."

She again rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Eridan. Let go of me."

After another moment of staring her in the eyes her released her. "Anyway, were you just asleep for a whole week? How did you even do that?"

"Well..." It was finally occurring to her that sleeping for a week is strange. She tried to remember any encounters with herself or any visits to Prospit or Derse, but none came. All she could remember was the purple death spell.

"Whatever. Just make a jetpack and we'll be off. Here..." He took the flustered seadweller by the arm and guided her out side and pointed up. "See all those meteors? You're stuff's already all deployed. All you need to do is get to the medium, then off we go."

"Okay." Feferi replied, still a little messed up from her dreams.

"And you need to get me through because we're still stuck on Alternia. It's a fucking miracle those things haven't killed us yet."

"Right."

"Are you ready to get to the medium and overtake the session?"

"Yeah. Wait, what?" She was completely expecting the medium, but no mention was made of taking over any session.

"We're still highest on the spectrum. Who's to say Kar is the leader when you got it in your blood?" He sounded completely confident in his logic.

"No! I'm not leading anything!" This was the one thing she was not willing to obey from her older self. She was willing to do everything else: take revenge, not die, and many other miscellaneous things, but she refused to take over her friends. She didn't feel it was right.

"Actually, Fef, you will be." Eridan sounded very matter-of-fact, and it was upsetting his fellow highblood. "I promise you will be. Just you wait and you will not be able to refuse the opportunity."

She crossed her arms, huffy at his tone. She discarded his prophetic words and got down to business, on her way to the medium.

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**Author's Note: So, yeah, I didn't have time to proofread this chapter. I know there are plenty of obvious errors and maybe even screw ups in character. Feel free to tell me them individually so I may fix it later. On a final note, I would appreciate a review. I don't really think anyone's interested in this story, so I'm not sure if I should actually continue it. Please leave your thoughts.**

**Thanks!**


	4. Eridan: Receive Orders

**Author's Note: Wow, off schedule much? Like I said, I had a musical, and it really threw me off. Maybe I should have started this story_ after_ the musical? Of course not. Anyway, to make up for all that, I'm going to post two more updates this week. In addition, to serve with this Saturday's update, I will edit all of the chapters and kind of, well, fix them. I'm going to put more into this story for now on. My fixes will be just subbing in better vocabulary or revising technical errors, so if you've come this far, you don't need to reread all the other chapters.**

**And with that, I wish you to enjoy this chapter, which happens to be my personal favorite so far.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own shit. It's all Hussie's. I just own the idea for the story.**

* * *

Two figures, chatting, sipping wine, stood among the crowds and cliques of trolls. Their conversation seemed intense to some degree, taking the seriousness of their expressions as they spoke. One wore a purple tuxedo, not exactly _subtle_, but it made him seem distinct. The other wore a very large, yet elegant, ball gown of white with magenta highlights. If anything these people were a big deal, definitely high bloods; this came off as confusing to Feferi.

She stood a couple meters away from the two big deals, talking it up, being fancy. Her observances were taking up so much of her mind that she didn't even realize that she herself was wearing a dress identical to the one the woman a little ways away was. However, when she did notice, it only added to her anxiety and confusion.

Why was she in..._a ball room? _The floor was glossy, as if waxed as trolls stepped on it, which reflected the brilliant chandelier hanging high above the room. There were designs on the walls, cream-colored and black and white tiles with beautiful paintings of trolls she didn't recognize at all. Of course she was in a ball room.

Swallowing her apprehension, she approached the classy duo. As she walked over, she started to actually recognize something. Well...not really recognize something, more like remember something. The great room gave her nostalgia and sudden _deja-vu_. She started to recall this room and knew exactly who the other two were.

"Hey, Eridan!" She called out to the male. He looked over and scared Feferi dead in her tracks with his vast white eyes.

"Fef, am I dead?" Was the first thing that left him, and it gave the young girl even more fear. She didn't know; was Eridan dead? Why would he be dead? How would he die?

She opened her mouth a bit, but only choked on a stutter. There was no way she was getting anything out.

"Feferi, calm down." Eridan's friend had come to Feferi's rescue, which made sense, because she too was Feferi. "Don't worry, I just can't tell him." She hugged her younger self.

This young Feferi hugged back, glad to have someone who might actually understand herself. It was difficult with Eridan to really open up to anyone, and she had a lot to stress about. Unfortunately, seeing Eridan's dead eyes shocked her.

"Oh, crap Fef, sorry. We were just talking and I realized this was a memory or something. Anyway, I still don't remember what happened before this. But this, uh, version of you was happy to explain that I couldn't do shit about it. I just had to remember. So I don't know. Am I dead?" He seemed pretty apathetic about the whole thing.

The young Feferi weakly shook her head, pushing away her older self. "No, Eridan, I am sure you are alive."

"Oh, thanks. Now I remember." And just like that his eyes went back to normal. "Hmm, was anyone else expecting that to be more dramatic at all? Because I was like, holy Gog, I'm about to remember the difference between life and sleep."

"No, it's usually pretty casual." Older Feferi remarked.

"Oh. Huh, that's kinda weird." He replied.

"Anyway, we were talking about something, weren't we Eridan?" The older one grew sick of his charades, and prodded forth.

"What? Oh yeah. It was about you, Fef. And your calling?" Eridan recalled.

Younger Feferi knew he was talking about her. She gave him a questioning look.

"Here, let me explain, Fef." Eridan stood with one foot facing perpendicular to the other, the one in front facing forward. In this position, he offered his hand to her.

She clearly hesitated. Eridan was a poor conversational partner, and somehow it seemed to fit that he would be a horrible dance partner, too. Even then, if he was good, there was the matter of what they were discussing over the dance. She didn't even know what it was.

However, after a good pause, she took a leap into the dark and accepted his hand with her own. He grinned at this and pulled her forward into a dip, his nose just a few centimeters from hers. "Are you ready?"

She slowly nodded her head. And, with that gesture of consent, he sent her into a twirl. "So Fef," he said as he spun her. "How's that whole Empress thing going?"

Feferi didn't reply.

"I see." He pulled her back in close stance, interlacing their fingers and putting an arm around her waist, stepping to rhythm. Feferi had a lot of trouble keeping beat with him. "Well, I promise there's a lot of fun to be had. I know you love fun! Am I right? Glub?"

"Uh, Eridan..." She was already getting uncertain.

"Shh, Fef, just listen. Now, imagine" he spun her, *all your land dweller friends laughing and giggling with you. You heard what happened in the alpha timeline, right?" He caught her with both hands on her hips, her hands somehow ending up on his shoulders. They took organized steps along to the rhythm of the music. "You know you can stop that, Fef. None of us have to die. You have the highest blood possible on the hemospectrum, you are a natural leader! Yes, we all love Kar, and I'm sure he'd be a fine leader, but his ancestor's long dead! Yours is still out there, conquering and shit."

"Eridan, I'm not my ancestor..." She calmly replied.

"Hey," he pulled her uncomfortably close. "I said I'd do the talking, while you do the listening."

"No. This isn't...Stop it." The magenta blood stabilized her voice, turning towards an authoritative tone.

"Why?" He replied, still holding her close.

"Because I don't like it! You're going to stop!" She demanded.

"Heh..." He let go of her, completely accepting the reasoning.

The young sea dweller was confused, and all the noise and comotion around her didn't help. Why did Eridan suddenly obey her? She looked over to her older self for some kind of answer. In response the older one stepped closer to Feferi and cupped a hand around her mouth so her younger counterpart could hear her.

_"You just gave him an order_." She had to shout over the seemingly increasing noise of the great room; or at least, it felt like she was shouting. An order? The overwhelming sounds and facts left young Feferi feeling quite nauseous and dizzy. She had given orders before, right? Shocked, she realized that she did not recall a single time actually giving out an order. She never had to...Or maybe she let too many things go?

The floor began wavering, the trolls began increasing their volume to a pitch she found unbearable, and what didn't help is that her thoughts felt even louder than everything around her. The pandemonium left her disoriented and in tears, which only added to her lameness of sight and hearing. With Eridan and Feferi no where in sight the lights and sounds began to blur together and she absorbed the gaze of what felt like thousands of trolls upon her.

Was she even standing anymore? Why was she so out of it? Why wouldn't it stop? Why...

It occurred to her that she would need to make it stop. It was so..._aggravating_ that no one would shut up or give some room to a royal that was clearly ill. She felt something inside her. Something that was screaming louder above everything else, which she shortly found would be herself. The sensation empowered her, and she found herself standing up straight and howling,

_"EVERYBODY QUIET!"_

Just like that, her roar filled the room, spreading just as fast as the silence that followed. A whole ballroom changed their stare to her, curious and scared. No one had ever seen the grand power so angry or empowered.

And just like that, the silence screamed in her ears as she looked out across her subjects. The urge she had felt before was now unrelenting, flowing through her veins, tempting her to provide additional orders.

Orders...

And as fast as it was built up, the command central fell. She couldn't take it- any of it. She collapsed in on herself, happily accepting a well deserved nap, as she blacked out.


	5. Land of Ignorance and Parties

**Author's Note:**** Haha, yeah, about posting two stories and an edit. I believe I have put too much on my plate by attempting to keep up a story on a regular schedule. School, extra curricular, and volunteering events have gotten in my way more than often, and it's quite difficult to keep up with the schedule of: _a chapter every weekend_. Therefore, I have developed two choices: either I put the story on rest until school's out, or I again try the weekend schedule. I'm not sure what to do. However, the next chapter surely will be posted on _this_ Saturday, and with that chapter will be my decision. We'll see what happens. :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Homestuck and shit.**

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"Hey, Fef, look at this."

"What?"

"That angel. Look at it."

"...Eridan, please elaborate."

"It's not moving. I've been staring at it, without even blinking, for like a full twenty minutes now. It hasn't moved an inch."

"Then leave it alone."

"But Fef, look at it-"

"No, Eridan, I'm not going to look at a statue."

"Well, of course you wouldn't, because it's not a statue-"

"Eridan!"

"Right, whatever, sorry."

She looked over at Eridan, who was still looking at the angel.

"Just stop looking at it!" She demanded, annoyed that he persisted.

"Please Fef, just..." He looked over at her, observing her angry face. "Right." He looked away.

She sighed. "I'm going to head to LORAF."

"Um...Which one is that again?" Eridan replied, sounding preoccupied.

"Land of Rays and Frogs? Kanaya's planet?"

"Yep. Sounds nice."

Irritated at her partner's inattentiveness, the young troll looked at him. He was squinting through binoculars, presumably looking at the statue again. She finally looked over at it, while it just stood there. Like a statue.

"What's the square root of nine?" She asked him.

"Wow, Fef, that sounds great." He responded.

"What's up with that statue?" She tried again.

"It fucking moved while I wasn't looking." He quickly said back.

Feferi tightened her lips, staring at him, as he stared at a statue. Murmuring something about him, she took a stance, and flew off. As she soared away from LOWAA, she acknowledged how much easier reaching god tier made everything. Flying, not dying, even getting a cool new outfit. It certainly was a shame that since they had a doomed timeline, she was going to die eventually anyway. However, she and Eridan were the only ones alive who knew that.

Flying was probably one of the best sensations she had ever felt. She had spent most of her life doing the opposite- _swimming_. But now that she could fly, she hardly ever spent any time at her planet. It was just so wet, and she had grown so accustomed to fresh air! She took a deep breath, but choked on the fresh air a little, and decided not to do that again.

Spending most of her time on Eridan's planet was stressful, because he wouldn't stop killing the angels. At least, she didn't think they were supposed to be killed. Furthermore, she was still upset with him for pressuring her into giving out orders a couple nights ago. However, despite her anger, they had both been awkwardly avoiding it ever since.

After a couple more minutes of directionless thought and directed flying, she alighted on LORAF. She looked around to see if Kanaya was immediately around. She didn't see Kanaya, but in looking around, she realized that she needed to take some time off from Eridan's planet. His was always so..._scary_. Kanaya's, however, seemed quite welcoming. Green fields were a very rare sight to her, so it was quite exciting to see some.

She smiled like she hadn't in a while and took another deep breath in of the fresh air, forgetting that she had decided not to, but that didn't apply to this specific breath. She didn't choke or anything- she just breathed in the air. The air filled her with a happiness she longed for, having somehow forgotten such emotion.

As she headed for Kanaya's hive, she realized that she has had a sharp decline in attitude. She recalled talking to all her friends- even Karkat, all so blissfully. She knew she must have been _some_ kind of annoying, but no one ever hated her for it. In fact, she had no idea what her friends were doing. Who else hit god tier? Were they closer to their goal? How had she grown so estranged?

"Feferi?" Kanaya interrupted her thoughts.

A wide grin spread across Feferi's face when she looked at Kanaya. _Kanaya._ What a kind soul that she had lost contact with. The high blood immediately ran over and gave her emerald-blooded friend a hug. "Kanaya!" She squealed.

Kanaya hugged back, surprised to see her friend. "Hello, Feferi. What brings you here?" She inquired.

Feferi relinquished her embrace and stepped back, excited to be interacting with someone other than herself and Eridan. "Well..." She began.

She knew the reason she had come was to check on the Matriorb. To make sure it was doing well, or it was coming along properly. Somehow she felt it was her responsibility to make sure some one got it done. But, looking at Kanaya's face, she picked up many emotions such as stress, depression, and some other ones she couldn't really account for.

"Just to say hi!" Feferi happily chirped in response.

"Oh, well, hello Feferi." Kanaya tiredly replied. For the following moments neither had any idea what to say, so they just stood looking blankly at each other.

"Let's throw a party." Fefeir suddenly broke the silence.

"What?" The other pitched back, confused.

"This place is so stressful! We need a break! Some fun!" She ranted on, suddenly hyped by her random idea. "It could be here, on your planet!"

"Um, Feferi, I don't think so..."

"Please? This could be great! Just think about it- everyone gathered together, laughing, having a good time! Wouldn't that be amazing?"

"Yes, but..." The vampire's reluctance was clear.

"I'm not taking no for an answer! You deserve it, and so does everyone else!" She started to bounce a little in place, so... So -EXCITED!

The other opened her mouth to voice her disapproval once more, but decided against it. Just seeing a teammate so happy filled herself with joy. It had been quite long since she had seen happy friends, other than Vriska, but Kanaya considered that to be more of arrogance than _happiness_. Slowly, a smile crossed her face.

"...Fine." The incandescent troll seemed to almost grow a little brighter. "And we can hold it at my place."

"YAY!" Feferi shouted, tackling Kanaya into a hug. "This is going to be so much fun! We can plan together, oh, and we can have Nepeta make the invitations! Sollux can do the decorating, Gamzee can make the food..." The young sea dweller droned on and on, shouting everything.

Her fashionable friend lightly laughed at her, smiling nonetheless. Unfortunately, she had a bad feeling about this party. Call it mother's intuition, or whatever one may see fit, but the girl somehow foresaw something rather Hellish to come. There was no way she could pin down what it was, or how she knew, but she trusted her own instinct. Looking at her childish comrade, her smile seemed to fade a little. What if the most optimistic of them all got hurt? How would they see any kind of goodness in their future?

"And it'll be so. MUCH. _FUN!_" The girl finished, nearly screaming the final sentence.

"Yes, Feferi, I'm sure it will be." She quickly plastered a fake smile back on, giving a false confidence. Of course she had a bad feeling, but what's the worst that could happen? Parties are happy. Right?


	6. Sanity: Abscond

**Author's Note: Haha, did anyone miss me? Probably not, but the production of High School Musical went well. School's over in like two weeks, so I'll actually be able to update on a more regular basis. In the mean time, I hope you guys all enjoy this chapter.**

**P.S. Hey, if any of you are good drawers, I would kinda like a cover for my story. I don't really like the current one that I drew, so I'm hoping that maybe one of you hella dudes have enough pity to draw something for me. Just PM me and we'll talk about it. Thanks! **

* * *

"Miss Nepeta, please climb down from that height. If you fall you may injure yourself."

"I am the great paw beast! Ruler of all others! Try and get me, valiant hoof beast!"

"I refuse. I command you to remove yourself- I mean, please get down."

"NEVER!"

Equius sighed, staring at his moirail who would absolutely not get down from the high tree. He was only worried that she might hurt herself if she fell, but apparently she wasn't as worried.

Nepeta gazed down on her moirail. He was _always_ trying to ruin her fun. Maybe if he just joined her roleplay once in a while he would be happier. In fact, she was sure if he loosened up with her he'd have so much fun. So much.

Karkat shook his head at the display. Perhaps he was jealous of their strong pale relationship, or maybe he was just sick of hearing them, but he retreated from their tomfooleries. Instead, he walked over to his friend Kanaya. His jade blooded friend always had something either witty, sarcastic, or fun to say. Unless she was being negative at the time, but...It was a party. How could she be unhappy?

However, when he went to approach her she happened to throw her portable digital device on the ground and run into her hive. Normally he would follow, but someone else wanted his attention.

"Are you having fun, Karkrab?" The excitement in Feferi's voice was evident.

"Uh, yeah, I guess." He replied, a little distracted by Kanaya's show. "Considering there's been no arguing over stupid things, other than when that whinny purple bitch threw a fit because Sollux got a _better_ score at 'pin the tail on the four-legged non-hoof beast'. Like seriously, I can't believe that water sucking fishing humping fuck even wanted to have a god damn fight about it it. Like, drop it, Sollux beet him fair and square." Karkat responded.

"Yeah...Sorry about that. He gets...um..."

"Self-absorbed? Cocky? Melodramatic? Or are we talking about his romantic attempts, like his fucking nonstop effort to get sollux to go black with him." Feferi contentedly listened. She knew Eridan wasn't the best, but at such a festive event why shouldn't she make an effort to be happy? Besides, he wasn't _too_ bad. "It just won't happen. Meanwhile, he's been attempting to make an effective moirailigance between himself and Vriska. Not only does Vriska not like him, bet she's better than that. It's just a fucking pain that he's been going red for me. I can't even begin to comprehend-"

"What?" The girl cut him off. Eridan had been going red for _who?_

"What?" The crustacean boy asked back.

"What did you just say about his red feelings?"

"He's been fucking hitting on me again. Why? Are you two..." His eyes widened in surprise. The luster her face had contained for the sake of a party began to fade. What it faded into wasn't immediately clear, but it was kind of scary. "Hey, Feferi, you deserve better than that pile of violet shit anyway. Don't even bother to try and-" Karkat made an honorable attempt to diffuse her, but her expression was changing, shifting to a clearly enraged state.

"Thank you." She cut him off. Eridan...Even his name made her sick at this point. Eridan, Eridan, ERIDAN! What a whiny little sea poisoning jerk! She had been aware the entire time that he had been the source of her up to date unhappiness. But now..._Eridan_.

Beyond angry, she marched over to Eridan, much to Karkat's displeasure. He just had to mention Eridan, didn't he? God DAMMIT, Karkat.

"Eridan!" Feferi called to him. Having been talking to Vriska, he turned to face Feferi. He was irritated that his matesprit was ripping on his moirail game, but it was clear that Feferi had no intention of even including Vriska in anything. Her glare burned straight through the only other sea dweller about, already giving him an uncomfortable feel.

"Fef, what? Geez, what's got your panties in a knot? You look upset." He cleverly observed.

"Eridan Ampora! I understand you're desperate, but are you really going to do that to me?! Karkat _told_ me about your interests in him! Are you even serious?" She shouted at him. Suddenly all parties were staring at the two highest bloods, even Nepeta from her perch.

Eridan went to shoot a glare to Karkat, but he was long gone. He left the minute their confrontation started to get to Kanaya.

"ERIDAN!" She hollered, feeling he wasn't paying attention to her when that's what she deserved. Her blood left her at the highest point on the hemospectrum, _everyone's_ eyes needed to be focused on her.

"Fef, please, chill the fuck out. I was joking." He offered, looking completely confident in his answer.

In response, Feferi calmly took out her weapon. Sure, it was generally unnecessary, but the past...while? She didn't even know how long the violet blood had been tormenting her. She knew that he had her in a messy moirailigence for sweeps, and matespritship for too long. He was so selfish it made her sick.

It was everything he had done to everyone. Poor Sollux, always being instigated for the sake of Eridan's black relations. Then poor Vriska because she was subject to his red advances for so many sweeps. Poor land dwellers in general, all subject to his foul racism and hate. It infuriated her. Then, poor _her_.

Killed her in another reality, complained only of his own problems in their pale times, forced her into a dramatic dance where she nearly burst out into sobs, exposed his possibly dead self to her with no consideration for her feelings, and now he was flirting with someone else out of a an already existing red relationship that he seemed not to care for at all. And at that moment, she just about snapped.

Her anger pulsed through her, giving strength to her limbs. She raised her arms, looking ready to throw her trident right into Eridan's chest, so he whipped out his wand. They seemed about to begin a duel, when Feferi lowered her weapon. Another idea had occured to her.

"Equius?" She ask innocently.

Equius was of course among the spectators around her, and replied in a strong voice, "Yes?"

"Kill Eridan. Now."

"...Excuse me?" Equius asked. Of course he did not particularly like the sea dwellers, but this was the _highest_ blood around. The actual TOP of the hemospectrum. No way he could deny an order from someone of such high power...

"You heard me." She responded confidently.

"Fef, what _the FUCK?_" Eridan exclaimed before Equius could respond. He sounded flabbergasted. "You're crazy, you know that? I'm not going to die!" He laughed a little at his last comment, then pointed his own weapon at her. Just like that, he pushed the trigger, figuring he either murder or be murdered.

Suddenly grasping the situation in the last moments of its calmness, Feferi just stood in the path of Eridan's bullet, too shocked to even move her mouth. Fortunately, she had friends.

Nepeta, thinking on her feet, pounced on Feferi, knocking her to the ground. While this itself was painful, it was better than dying by a bullet. However, this left Nepeta in the striking zone.

Equius leaped in the bullet's path, taking it both for Nepeta and Feferi. It caught him in the right side of the chest, and though the bullet went right through him, it slowed down enough for Nepeta to move.

In an instance Nepeta was upon Equius, while Feferi lie on the ground, shocked. Eridan shook his head at the conundrum and everyone stared in amazement.


End file.
